ASTANA — The Astana Times has selected articles from global media outlets covering Kazakhstan. This week’s foreign media digest highlights the country’s economic and financial development, sovereign wealth strategy and global ambitions, alongside Elena Rybakina’s historic rise to world No.
1. Elena Rybakina becomes world No. 1 for first time after U.S. Open win over Zheng Qinwen Women’s tennis has a new world No. 1. Elena Rybakina took the top spot from Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday at the U.S. Open with a quarterfinal win over China’s Zheng Qinwen, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
It is her first time at the summit of women’s tennis, reported The New York Times on Sept. 9. “It’s a great achievement, and I feel like you will appreciate and think about it even more when you finish your career,” Rybakina said in a news conference, when asked about the milestone.
Kazakhstan’s AIFC says other countries are seeking to replicate its model Kazakhstan’s financial hub says its model is attracting interest abroad as competition between financial centres intensifies, while limited market liquidity remains a key challenge, reported Euronews on Sept.
9. For two days, Astana Finance Days 2026 brought together representatives of global financial institutions that collectively manage more than $26 trillion in assets, as Kazakhstan seeks to strengthen its position in the global competition for capital. How Kazakhstan’s economic reforms have turned the tenge into the best-performing currency in Europe and Asia EU Reporter published an article on Sept.
7 examining the tenge’s strong performance in 2026 and highlights Kazakhstan’s accelerating economic transformation, driven by foreign investment, diversification, digitalization, infrastructure development, and the expansion of its financial and technology sectors.
“The Kazakhstani tenge has become the best-performing currency in Asia and Europe in 2026, according to the Financial Times. Since the beginning of the year, it has appreciated by nearly 10% against the US dollar, outperforming all other currencies worldwide except for several currencies of Latin American and African countries.
This performance has been underpinned by economic growth driven by the transformation of Kazakhstan’s economic model. The country is rapidly evolving from a commodity-based economy into a financial and technology hub for Central Asia, amid growing inflows of foreign capital,” reads the article.
Erlan Karin’s appointment links reform and national identity The Times of Central Asia published an article on Sept. 1 about Erlan Karin’s appointment as Vice President of Kazakhstan.